House of Hummingbird

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Movie: House of Hummingbird
Revised romanization: Beolsae
Hangul: 벌새
Director: Kim Bo-Ra
Writer: Kim Bo-Ra
Producer: Yoon Ik-Joon
Cinematographer: Kang Guk-Hyun
World Premiere: October, 2018 (Busan IFF)
Release Date: August 29, 2019
Runtime: 138 min.
Genre: Drama / Indie / Coming of Age
Distributor: At9 Film
Language: Korean
Country: South Korea

Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

Set in 1994 when the Seongsu Bridge collapsed in Seoul.

Eun-Hee (Park Ji-Hu) is a middle school student. She lives with her parents who run a mill, older sister and older brother. While each of the family members struggle to deal with their own problems, Eun-Hee wanders. An female adult comes to Eun-Hee. That female adult is the only one who can understand Eun-Hee.

Notes

"House of Hummingbird" had its world premiere at the 23rd Busan International Film Festival (October 4-12, 2018). The film screened in the "New Currents" section and received the "KNN Audience Award" and "NETPAC Award."

Cast



Park Ji-Hu	Kim Sae-Byuk
Eun-Hee	Young-Ji

Additional Cast Members:

Jung In-Gi - Eun-Hee's father
Lee Seung-Yeon - Eun-Hee's mother
Park Soo-Yeon - Soo-Hee
Seol Hye-In - Yoo-Ri
Son Sang-Yeon - Dae-Hun
Ahn Jin-Hyun - Min-Ji
Lee Sun-Joo - Ji-Wan's mother
Kim Mi-Hyang - Chinese language institute director
Kwon Gwi-Bin - nurse
Yoon Tae-Hee - hospital patient
Park Yoon-Hee - homeroom teacher

Trailers

Awards

2020 (56th) BaekSang Arts Awards - June 5, 2020
- Best Director (Kim Bo-Ra)
- Best Supporting Actress (Kim Sae-Byuk)
2020 (56th) Daejong Film Awards - June 3, 2020
- Best New Director (Kim Bo-Ra)
2019 (40th) Blue Dragon Film Awards - November 21, 2019
- Best Screenplay (Kim Bo-Ra)

Comments

Sukanya Jan 09 2023 12:56 pm This movie is absolutely beautiful the cinematography the plot their acting I love everything about this movie .

Gia Sep 11 2022 2:18 am I have just watched this and don't understand...

Too long

wntrina Feb 15 2022 9:27 pm Unlike a user under this my opinion differs. The duration actually compliments this movie. Maybe you're just bored by those 'unnecessary' scenes but they are just as important. The things they put in each, every panel has meaning. I love that they are focusing on little things like the broken glass, the small things and the close up to Eunhee's face. It just shows everything from her point of view.

Rather than just saying it's 'realistic' it just shows how Asian household works. Coming from one I can't count how many things I can relate in this movie. You're always thinking why your family is so messed up bcs they can't be there for you emotionally, maybe just physically. Despite all of that, the arguing, the beating she got from her brother, her feeling to let it all out by acting 'delinquents'-stealing and whatnot? the toxicity in the household was portrayed really well. Imagine getting beat up by your family till you bleed but everything goes to normal the day after, like nothing ever happens. It shows that these people does have love to give to their family and children but they just don't. they just don't treat you right until something bad happens to you. they only replicate their misery over and over again. the abuse will continue like a cycle cause in the future, their children will do that to their own too. they do gives love but it only dries up with time.

During all of that, Eunhee met cram teacher who seems like she understands what's going on without asking too much. When the girl spoke of her problems she didn't say anything but just being there comforts her. Everytime Ms. Youngji starts a conversation it's as if she already went through it but then she's right, it takes time to heal. Being an adult doesn't solve everything. And I really like Yuri's character too. She was there to give Eunhee the love she was so desperate of but hers are genuine, not like the other boy.

And when the both of them are not there anymore I thought she will go through a breakdown but instead she mustered up the courage to move on with her life. Good life lessons.

So Lala Aug 18 2020 10:52 am the cinematography is beautiful. but in my honest opinion, the duration is too long for a story like this.

realistic stories are interesting and keep us tread on earth. but just as too-much-dramatically makes us cringe, too-much-realistic was boring. with a slow-flowing flow and minimal dialogue, it left me watching this quite frustration. watching this felt like I was facing the my own problem, which made this film lose its identity as a form of entertainment.

I know this is an arthouse film, but because of the aspects I mentioned above, I barely finished it.

not because the film is bad, the story arrangement is consistent and well-polished. but just too consistent that the dramatic side is under-composed, and everything is laid out which ends up making many scenes unnecessary. I endured to the end because I was looking for spoilers on the internet.

There are plenty of slice-of-life arthouse films that are realistic, but also short, compact, and sweet. such as Gia Coppola's "Palo Alto" and the Thai film "Mary is Happy". Both of them did not lose their entertaining identity without giving up their "dramatic" side.

Kim Bora's film still lacks these 4 aspects. but I am clear that the film is not bad and has a promising start for both the director and the new actors.

it's just simply not my cup of tea. watch it by yourself and have your own opinion :)

Godwin Jun 05 2020 11:39 am This film won BaekSang Award for Best Director (Kim Bo-Ra) and Best Supporting Actress (Kim Sae-Byuk). I am definitely going to watch this

House of Hummingbird

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Plot Synopsis by AsianWiki Staff ©

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Awards

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